CORPORATE MANAGEMENT Chch to reorganise Council structure

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33279, 17 July 1973, Page 1

CORPORATE MANAGEMENT Chch to reorganise Council structure

Christchurch city will have a general manager from September 30, and he and two deputy general managers will become a principal officers’ executive. A new position on the City Council’s staff will be an information officer.

The present development, finance and electricity committee will become the policy and resources committee.

These were among the recommendations of the committee adopted by the council last evening after it had considered a long report on corporate management. A working party consisting of Cr D. R. Dowell, the

committee chairman, the Town Clerk-designate (Mr J. H. Gray) and the City Engineer (Mr P. G. Scoular) which visited Australia earlier this year to investigate ’municipal office buildings also made a study of the ! management structure of 20 i local bodies consulted. U.K. report This, and a study of the Bains report on local government restructure in the United Kingdom, led to the recommendations for a change in Christchurch "to provide improved coordinating machinery at both the officer and policy-making levels.” The committee set out the following changes: Constitution of a policy and resources committee. Appointment of a general manager responsible to the council for the efficient running of the whole undertaking. A corporate management team comprising the three senior officers to co-ordinate the activities of departments in the interests of the whole.

An emphasis on group management throughout the whole corporation. Project teams from various departments and divisions to plan and implement specific undertakings. Where appropriate, divisional rather than departmental heads to become the immediate advisers to standing committees. Local government management structure in New Zealand had evolved from the traditional basic services, the committee said. Roads and bridges were the first priority,

followed by water and drainage reticulation, development of parks and playing fields, public health and safety. As a new function was assumed, it became the practice to create a new department to administer it. The council’s eight separate departments had evolved by this process. The point had been reached where the basic services were well established and local bodies were becoming increasingly aware of broader responsibilities in the field of the environment and social welfare.

By New Zealand standards the council was a large and complex undertaking. It had a turnover of nearly s27m a year and a staff of nearly 1600. Diversity Because of its diversity, there was a bigger problem in instilling a corporate conscience and achieving co-ord-ination than in many large organisations which might have more repetitive activities. Illustrating the need for a project team approach, the committee said planning of Taylor’s Mistake involved town planning, reserves, property, architectural, engineering, surveying, traffic and health staff. The development of pedestrian malls, including Cathedral Square, involved town planning, traffic, architectural, engineering, survey-

ing, reserves and property staff and most ad hoc authorities. The Town Clerk’s department and city treasury were also involved. Changed designations will be: town clerk and chief executive officer becomes general manager and town clerk; city engineer, deputygeneral manager and city engineer; city treasurer, deputygeneral manager and city treasurer; deputy town clerk, secretary and associate town clerk; deputy city engineer, associate city engineer.

Full time The town clerk’s department will be redesignated department of city administration. The committee recommended that the general manager would devote all his time to corporate management. The other two members of the executive could expect to spend one-third of their time in that way and the rest on departmental management. Referring to the appointment of an information officer, the committee said that the term public relations officer had been avoided because general promotion of Christchurch and Canterbury was not felt to be within the scope of the job. The officer would be responsible for an annual report, departmental publications, civic functions, drafting speeches, talks to school parties, press statements, and correspondence seeking information about the city or the council.